We needed a quick camping trip recently so we decided to check out a campground we have driven by a few times on our way to other adventures. The Monarch Spur RV Park is located between Salida, CO and Monarch Pass. They are open year round so if you are a skier that likes to stay at campgrounds, you can stay here when you visit Monarch Ski Resort. You have to watch carefully for the turn off for the campground, but they have a nice big sign right at their driveway. Their location is perfect if you are wanting a central base camp for exploring the Salida, Bueña Vista and Monarch areas. The campground is also easy to get in and out of from the highway.

First impressions driving into the campground are great. The signs are easy to read, the office is well marked and there is a carved bear waving at you. How can you not be impressed by a carved bear greeting you? I also loved the "whoa" sign designating where you are supposed to stop to check in. The office is also a little store with some snacks, really pretty jewelry, some cute t-shirts and other supplies you might need. The owners are very nice and helpful and the people working for them are equally helpful and nice. You can tell they take pride in their property and their business. Both the paved and dirt roads are well maintained, the buildings are all clean and well maintained and the campsites are clean. Their pricing is also very good.

One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to campgrounds, is when they try cramming as many sites onto the property as possible and you feel like you are parked in an RV storage lot instead of in a campground. The Monarch Spur RV Park site spacing is a little close, but there is enough space you can walk around your RV and not feel like you're in the middle of your neighbor's campsite. The sites are nice and long so you can comfortably park your RV and your tow or towed vehicle without having to get creative with your parking. Each site also has a picnic table and fire pit.

The tent sites are nice and secluded and very well maintained. I kind of wish we could have taken our camper back into one of the tent sites because they were so nice. We would have been okay boon-docking. The tent sites are located along the river which also means they are closer to the highway noise. I think the river cancels out the highway noise enough you can't hear the traffic too much. There are also some cabins on the property you could rent. When we were walking around exploring, we came up on the backside of the cabins instead of the front. From what we could see, the cabins are cute and also well maintained.

We didn't have our official playground testers with us, but I think they could have burned off some energy in the little playground area that was also near the horseshoe pit area.

The Chip N' Dale Saloon is a cute area with BBQ grills and tables where you can hang out with a group of people or just sit and watch the birds and chipmunks play. If you like to bird watch, there are a lot of different ones to watching including hummingbirds.

The bathrooms and laundry area are in a building that is pretty centrally located, but a little far away from the tent sites. The building is clean inside and out.

The campground is beautiful this time of year, but I'm sure when fall really starts to show up in a few weeks, the views will be amazing! We didn't fish the river while we stayed there, but we did see fish swimming in it near one of the tent sites.

]]>Fri, 24 Aug 2018 01:17:41 GMThttp://www.girlsintheoutdoors.com/reviews/flinging-some-clay We have been talking about buying an electric, auto-feed trap thrower for a long time and on Amazon Prime Day, the Champion Workhorse came up as a really good deal. We were very excited to get it and couldn't wait to take it out. When we unpacked the Workhorse and started to put it together, we found some things we really liked and some things we really didn't like.

Right away we could tell the clay pigeon magazine was going to be an issue. On it's own, the magazine is the horseshoe looking piece and 4 metal tubes that flop around. I could see that they were going for something that was easy for storage and transportation, but makes it a little hard to assemble the magazine and the legs get a little tangled up during transport. The legs flop around so much because the top is made of flexible plastic.​ We really like that the magazine holds 50 clay pigeons and it does a really good job of making sure the pigeons are fed directly into the drop hole. It is also really easy to see how many pigeons are left in the magazine from the end of the release pedal and also from most of the shooting stations we shot from. Another downside of the design is that it will only throw single clay pigeons. It cannot throw doubles, nested doubles, or any clay pigeons that aren't the standard size.

There is a bright white plastic tubing that indicates the path of the throwing arm. I stand far away from the machine while it is in use, but it's nice to have the reminder of how far away to stand. We really like that this piece is flexible and removable to make transportation and storage a lot easier. If the tubing was a solid piece that stayed on the machine, it would be a pain to load in a vehicle or store in almost any area.

The release switch is a pedal at the end that looks like a sewing machine pedal and works in a similar way. You have to hold the pedal down for a few seconds to get the arm to throw the pigeon. The release cord is 25 feet long which makes it easy for the shooters to control themselves or to have someone else controlling the pedal and staying safe and out of the way of the shooters. ​ Another nice safety feature (that is hard to get pictures of) are the 4 ground stakes that come in the box to hold the legs down. The stakes are good quality and not the flimsy ones that sometimes come with some outdoor equipment.

The instructions say that the "On-Off-Safe switch provides safe method to uncock arm." This feature doesn't really de-cock the arm. The spring is always under some tension with this design. My husband can manually rotate the throwing arm by hand to get the spring to a fully relaxed position. I do not recommend doing this as there is a considerable amount of force in the spring, but it can be done once you understand how it operates.

The cycle time is only about 2.5 seconds which is nice if you want one at a time or several close together. The throwing range is around 45 to 75 yards which is a lot further than I can get them out throwing them with a hand held thrower. There are two pins on the rear leg, that when removed, the angle of throw can be changed. It would be nice if it was easier to change the angle of the throw without removing the ground stakes. It's powered by a 12 volt deep cycle that you must provide, so it can be used anywhere.

Overall, we are happy with our Champion Workhorse. It is a lot of fun to use and easy to transport.

​​​Pro-Staff Reviewer: Hilary Westhoff

]]>Sat, 04 Aug 2018 21:54:10 GMThttp://www.girlsintheoutdoors.com/reviews/falling-in-love-with-my-favorite-gun-again I love my Ruger 10/22. It was the gun that I learned to shoot on and it was the gun that I discovered my love for shooting. My husband painted the original stock pretty a sparkly red, but it started to chip. I also have short arms and short fingers, so the stock never fit me great. I was still a pretty good shot with it though. A few months ago, my husband showed me pictures of the Archangel stock. He thought I would like it because the length-of-pull and the cheek weld are both adjustable. At first, I didn't think I needed it because the other stock worked just fine. I was wrong.....very, very wrong. I definitely need this stock and I am very happy my husband went ahead and bought it for me!

The Archangel stock has a lot of other extra features. One of my favorite features is the shape.​ The grip is very comfortable and with the adjustable length-of-pull and cheek weld, I can reach the trigger comfortably and see through the scope without much adjusting. It also has an extended magazine release. Without the extension, it would be hard to reach the original release. I really like the extension and wish I had that a long time ago. I used to struggle with getting the magazine out, but i didn't struggle at all with the release on the Archangel.

Another of my favorite features is the picatinny rail that you can attach a forward grip/bi-pod to. That grip/bi-pod is WONDERFUL!! When I shot standing, the grip made it easier to hold the rifle and when I used the table, I didn't have to use a front shooting rest. You can also attach other items, such as lights, lasers, and any other tactical item that uses a standard picatinny rail attachment

The Archangel stock also has a storage compartment built into it. I'm not exactly sure what I would store in it, but I love storage so of course I love this feature, too.

Another great feature is the sling swivels, sold separately. The packaging calls them "steel inserts for ball-lock/push-button QD sling swivels." They are VERY easy to move, remove and add. I don't use a sling since I pretty much just target shoot, but if I wanted to use one and take it off for target shooting or change how I use the sling, it would be really easy to make the change. The stock will accept a standard profile barrel, or a bull barrel.

My Ruger 10/22 is definitely my favorite gun to shoot and now I love it even more. The Archangel stock is comfortable, light weight and very easy to customize. The only problem with my new Archangel stock is, it is so fun to shoot that everybody wants to shoot it! Since I'm good at sharing, that means less shooting time for me.

I HIGHLY recommend the Archangel stock for a Ruger 10/22. My husband bought my archangel on eBay, but we have seen them at gun shows and a few sporting good stores (including Cabela's), firearm dealers. The average cost is around $150. They come in more colors than just red, but I'm not sure why you wouldn't get the red one! If you have a Ruger 10/22, an Archangel is definitely a good purchase.For more information, visit their website at www.archangelmanufacturing.com.

If you live or camp in an area that spends most of the summer under fire restrictions, you don't get to enjoy a campfire very often. Sometimes you may want to enjoy a campfire, but not want do all the work for one. A propane fire pit is a way to enjoy a fire, but still be okay to use during most fire restrictions (make sure you read all the rules for the restrictions you will be using the fire pit first) and put in a lot less work. A propane fire pit works great at home, too. We recently bought the Camp Chef Portable Fire Pit and we are very happy with it.

We bought our's from the Wal-Mart website, but you can also order one from Amazon. The Camp Chef fire pit costs around $70 and if you monitor the websites, you can sometimes get it for closer to $65. The fire pit comes with a carry bag that is easy to load and unload and has 2 handles to make it easy to carry. The legs also fold under easily for storage. It also comes with 2 collapsible roasting sticks. The roasting sticks are the kind that curve backwards so your marshmallow or hot dog don't slide off into the fire.

12 pounds of lava rock and the hose for the propane tank are also included. The hose has a hook for the wrench (which is also included) to hang on when you aren't using it to hook up the hose. Pretty much the only things that aren't included are the propane tank and lighter. Everything except the roasting stick fit in the carry bag.

Before enjoying it for the first time, you need to cover the fire pit with the lava rock loaded and cover with the metal screen (also included) and let it burn for awhile with the screen covering it. Lava rock sometimes has a little moisture left in them and when they heat up in the fire, the water can make the rock explode and you do not want someone getting hit by a piece of lava rock flying after it explodes. Our lava rock didn't explode, but we were glad they included the screen just in case. After you burn the rocks for awhile (follow the instructions), you can get rid of the metal screen and enjoy the fire.

The fire pit has a 15 inch diameter fire ring with a built-in high volume burner. You can keep the flames low, or turn them up higher. There is plenty of space for a couple people to roast their hot dogs or marshmallows at the same time. As someone who has to be careful how much camp fire smoke they inhale because of asthma issues, it's nice not having to monitor how long I've been in the smoke or how my lungs are feeling. As someone who likes the smell of campfire, I do miss the camp fire smell.

The only negatives we have were the valve too close to the fire pit and the hose is a little short if we have many people sitting around the fire pit. Those 2 things aren't a big deal though. You can turn the propane off at the tank instead of the valve at the fire ring and it would be nice to have the propane tank out of the way to fit more people around the fire, but if you have that many people around the fire pit, you are planning on being pretty cozy anyway. We are looking forward to having a camp fire when it is just the 2 of us and don't feel like putting in the work of a wood fire. When everything is stored away in the carry bag, it is easy to store.

After a pretty long break, Girls In The Outdoors is back and has made some changes. I originally wanted to focus on helping girls (hence the name "Girls In The Outdoors"). But I soon realized there are some men that liked the information, too. There has been a lot of Men vs. Women, Male vs. Female and Girls vs. Boys topics in the news and Girls In The Outdoors started feeling like I was supporting the division. I have missed posting and interacting with other people that enjoy the outdoors, so I thought it thru and decided I wanted to focus mostly on product and service reviews and promoting the products and companies that we enjoy using. I still want to encourage people who are just staring out in anything outdoors and hopefully we can do that more with our product and service reviews and our pro-staff program.

One of the main reasons I decided to change to a product and service review blog is because I like gadgets and trying new things and then telling other people about the good stuff I found. When we plan on camping in a campground or buying new products, we read as many reviews as we can so we know as much about them as possible. I enjoy doing the review posts for the campgrounds and also for new gadgets and toys. I started the pro-staffer program to help make sure that there is a bigger variety of products and services than just what I use. I want to make sure that our reviews are helpful, so I am encouraging our pro-staffers to tell the truth whether they paid for the item or service or they received them for free. If they have a good review, when really they would never use the product again or were treated poorly, then that isn't helpful at all. That is what is happening with Girls In The Outdoors. We hope you find our changes helpful! Please let us know if you have any questions or what you think of our changes

]]>Sun, 11 Dec 2016 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.girlsintheoutdoors.com/reviews/product-review-ibobber-bluetooth-smart-castable-fish-finder We don't do many product reviews because when we are asked to do them, I tell the companies that if I don't like a product, I will put that in my review. But, when a product with the words "Castable Fish Finder" in the name show up on a list of items to review I'm going to say "SURE!" and then cross my fingers that the item is as cool as it sounds! When I received my iBobber in the mail, I instantly fell in love with it. First, I loved the size. It is small enough I can put it in my pocket, camera bag, float tube pocket or tackle box! (I placed a piece of candy in the photo below to help with size comparison.) The iBobber also comes with a drawstring bag that can be used to store the iBobber and the charger together or you can use the bag to carry just the iBobber around in. The bag came in handy for me when I took the iBobber out of the water and didn't want to put it back into my camera bag still wet.

Next, I loved the cuteness. Yes, cuteness counts!! Not only is the iBobber itself cute, but so is the charger!

I was a little worried about the battery life not only in the iBobber, but also in my phone. If you are on a long fishing or camping trip and the iBobber doesn't last long and also drains your phone, then that would be very, very bad. When I first received the iBobber in the mail, I will admit I immediately took it to the sink to try it out as soon as it was charged. The iBobber turns itself off when it hasn't been in the water for awhile. After my sink trial, I don't think my iBobber shut off properly because when we took it to the pond a few days later to try it out, the battery was dead. I was a little bummed at this point because battery life is so important. I was able to do a quick small charge while we were at the pond so we could get to know it before we took it to the lake. While we were at the lake, I used the iBobber for 2 days and never had an issue with the battery in the iBobber or my phone. The iBobber didn't use much power at all and it didn't drain my phone either. I think the sink water just didn't turn it off correctly and that is what drained the battery the first time.

FYI: I leave snap swivels on my iBobber so I don't forget them.

I was also a little worried about casting the iBobber. You definitely want to use a heavy line (I used 15 pound braided) and use a snap-swivel to connect your line to your iBobber. Casting isn't too bad, but it does make a pretty big splash so you'll want to cast over and reel it to the area you want to, just like you do with a regular bobber when fishing. Since the iBobber has a snap swivel connection on the bottom so you can use the iBobber as a regular bobber. I am a little nervous about using it as a regular bobber only because I usually get my bobber and hook tangled up and end up loosing them. I probably won't use my iBobber as a fishing bobber unless I'm in an area I know the hook, line or bobber won't get caught in rocks or vegetation.

The app is really easy to use and understand. It is easy to switch between features and the graphics are easy to understand. The app also lets you know how much charge is left in the iBobber battery and the water temperature. The only problem I have had with the app is that when the Bluetooth on my phone is turned off and I'm not using the iBobber or the app, there is a message telling me to turn my Bluetooth on. The message popping up gets really annoying, but I'm hoping they will address that issue in an app update soon.

I was surprised how well the iBobber worked. We were fishing in one of our favorite spots and the iBobber told us that the fish were shallow. We were fishing deep though because that is usually where we catch fish in that spot. The people next to us were fishing shallow and they kept catching fish and we never did. I must learn to trust my iBobber! Another benefit of the iBobber is more than one phone can log into one iBobber, so your friends and family can enjoy your iBobber too. You can also turn on a fish alarm and a hit alarm (if you're using it as a bobber). You can log your trips, check the weather and map the bottom of the area you are fishing. I REALLY like that the iBobber can be used while shore fishing, fishing from a boat, fishing from a float tube or kayak and even ice fishing! It was interesting finding out how deep some of our favorite shore fishing areas are. I was having problems juggling my phone and my fishing rods, so I am going to find a protective case with a lanyard that I can wear around my neck for my phone. That will make it easier for float tubing and ice fishing, too. I received my iBobber for free, but if I ever have to replace it or maybe buy one as a gift, it is well worth the $99.99. Here is where you can order your iBobber and also learn more about it: http://reelsonar.com/products/ibobber. I HIGHLY recomend the iBobber Bluetooth Smart Castable Fish Finder!! You should also like their Facebook page for more information and also funny video promotions: https://www.facebook.com/REELSONAR/?fref=ts.

]]>Fri, 04 Dec 2015 01:06:31 GMThttp://www.girlsintheoutdoors.com/reviews/drake-campground-drake-colorado The purpose of doing campground reviews is to help others stay at good campgrounds. So far I have done 2 good reviews and now it is time for Drake Campground located in Drake, Colorado. From my other 2 campground reviews, you know I start with a first impression. I will admit when I took the photo of the entrance to the campground, I really didn't care what it looked like because the entrance is....well, we still aren't exactly sure where the official entrance is. You see the sign to the right, then the white Jeep and the white truck? Somewhere in that area is the pull off to the campground and then you head to the left. At the split in the road we took the right fork. Next we met a cement truck that said he needed to get by us to go get another load delivered. We said we were just trying to find the entrance to the campground and the guy who had been working all week pouring a new foundation under a house didn't know there was a campground back there! First impressions at this point are not going well. If we hadn't made reservations, we probably would have left.

Next we pull up and there is nobody around. I stayed in the truck with the dogs and my husband went to find someone. Some tent campers showed up and they were standing with my husband near where they thought the office was. Apparently, the owner was inside the house/office on the phone and they were waiting for her. When she finally came out, she told everybody that it was cash or check only (which we knew from calling for reservations) and then when the tent campers said they only had a card, the owner was kind of rude and told them they were the only campground in town (in the town of Drake, that is probably true) and they could go to the ATM. Then she started talking about all the bears that come through the property. Even if the people had decided to go to the ATM, the kids were now afraid of the bears. First impressions are not good at all.

The owner told us to go choose a spot in this area. Even with reservations, there weren't any assigned spots! It was hard to figure out where the spots stopped and started and they really weren't level at all. We chose a semi-level spot that looked like it matched up with an electric pole and started setting up. Notice there aren't many picnic tables and the "fire pits"...well, I'll get to those in a minute.

I should probably tell you about why we made reservations at this campground because you're probably thinking "WHY DID YOU STAY HERE?!" We chose this campground because it was near Estes Park which is near Rocky Mountain National Park. Rocky Mountain National Park was our destination for this trip and it is also one of my most favorite places to visit now. We planned this trip a little late (we did that a lot this year) and we were trying to find a campground with an open spot that didn't cost a fortune to stay at. We were prepared for the cash only thing, but not for everything else. We set up camp, walked around the campground a little, took a trip into Estes Park for a little while and then came back to camp to start dinner. At this point we still have not paid for our campsite. We were outside eating when a man (we assume he is also the owner) came buy to collect payment and to explain the escape route in case of flooding. By now we have been here for almost 6 hours! A few more campers had shown up at this point so we weren't the only ones that had been there awhile, but hadn't paid.

I know that the campground took some damage during the Big Thompson River flood in 2013, but I really didn't see any pride of ownership in this campground at all. The bathrooms were port-a-potties which wasn't a big deal, but I was glad I didn't have to find out what kind of condition they were in. One of the features of the property I appreciated were all the trees that provided shade over most of the campsites.

The owners have some farm animals on the property which doesn't usually bother me, but my little dachshund had an issue with the turkey. Every time we walked by the bird area, Sasha wanted to attack that turkey and if she heard it gobble while we were at camp, she had to woof at it. There was also a lama on the property that really needed a haircut (it was August and you could tell it had been a long time since it had any trimming done). The lama was also in an area that was only blocked off by an electric fence. The electric fence was marked well, but kids and dogs kept getting zapped all weekend.

There were two cute cabins on the property. Well, they're cute on the outside, I'm not sure what they looked like on the inside and I'm not even sure if you can rent the cabins because there was no information about them. The cabin on the right was in a roped off area that I'm guessing still had a lot of flood damage that needed cleaned up.

There weren't many amenities at this campground which isn't a big deal, but well.....it would have helped. We didn't have our playground experts with us so we couldn't get an official review of the playground equipment. The playground was right above our campsite so the girls could have played while we were sitting at camp and we could have still kept an eye on them. Now for the fire pits. There were a few, but they weren't "official" pits. It was more like the rock fire pits that you find when you're out in the middle of nowhere. Our campsite didn't have a fire pit, but the one next to us had 2 fire pits. The fire pit in the photo on the right was another spot near us. It looks like a nice fire pit right? Well, when the people in their showed up that were staying in that site, their motorhome was parked right up next to it. There is no way they could have had a fire if they wanted one.

The river that runs along the property is nice. We didn't fish it, but a couple kids in a campsite on the river were out fishing it. I don't know if they caught anything, though.

The location was nice because it didn't take us long to get to and from Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, but I don't think we will be staying at this campground again unless new owners take over and do some work to the property. The only time we saw the owners was when the lady finally got off the phone and came out to talk to us, then when the guy came around to collect the money and then Saturday night the lady drove around on a lawnmower asking if we were okay. Three times during a 4 day trip isn't very much. If they had additional employees, I wouldn't think the 3 times was a big deal, but it is only the owners working there. Supposedly they have a dump station, but we never found it and we never found the owners to ask them. We try to jump our gray and black water tanks before heading home, but we were totally okay with waiting until we got home to dump this time. If you would like to do a campground review, email us at girlsintheoutdoors@yahoo.com for details.

]]>Mon, 02 Nov 2015 14:47:16 GMThttp://www.girlsintheoutdoors.com/reviews/cuttys-resort-coaldale-co Time for another Campground Review! I have another positive review (don't worry, I have a negative review coming soon to prove I don't give all good reviews). This campground isn't too far from where we live so we will definitely be staying here again for quick weekend trips. I wish I had gotten better photos of the entrance to the campground. This is Cutty's Resort located in Coaldale, CO along Hayden Creek. First impressions are great! Look at the cute signs and the cute little building. I wish they used this little building in the check-in process. It gets kind of crazy at check-in Friday evening.

I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the main building! The main building has a store (with ice cream!), an indoor pool, storage area for sports' equipment and an 18 and older Lounge area. If you need wireless for some reason, the front deck is the place to get reception because there is almost always someone sitting on the deck on their phone. The people that work in the store/check-in desk are really nice and are very helpful. We went up a few weeks early to check out the campground and to make sure our camper could get in and out easy. The lady working the desk when we stopped in gave us a map and highlighted the spots that were open for the time we were planning on going and told us to go drive around and check them out.

The 18 and over lounge area upstairs is a great place to enjoy the surrounding views from a higher level. I could also see this area being a fun place to hang out if the weather turns bad and you're tired of hanging out in your camper or if you are with a large group that wants a place to hang out together.

Now lets talk about the camp sites. We loved our site when we drove around to check out the campground. We loved the deck area for the picnic table and the spot looked pretty big. Our camper and truck are large and we know that, but sometimes it's hard to judge a site size. We left our truck hooked up to help save room and we completely filled the full length of our site. That was ok, but the slant at the back of our campsite was where our main door is which meant our bottom step was really high. In the photo on the right you can see how high the bumper is off the ground and how extended the jacks are. During one of our walks around the campground, we found a few more sites that would work better. The campsites are close together, but not so close you feel like you are sitting in someone else's area. Each site also has a fire pit and a picnic table.

Cutty's Resort is located along Hayden Creek. There are areas where you can cross the creek to go explore. The creek is beautiful and is a lot of fun to explore. There are even some cabins located along the creek that you can rent! There are a few cabins not on the creek, but if we had to rent a cabin for some reason, I would definitely plan far enough ahead that we could get one of the cabins along the creek.

Now to talk about all of the amenities! There is a LOT to do which is why it is a great family resort to visit. I didn't get photos of everything because there is so much. We'll start with the pools. The outdoor pool is located across from the main building and the indoor pool is located in the main building. There are showers and bathrooms at each pool. One of the great things at both pools was even though most of us didn't know each other, we all ended up sharing our pool toys and playing with total strangers. We had a huge game of beach ball going on in the indoor pool one morning. Our group included cute little girls (we called them the piranhas because they were such fast swimmers), teenagers, adults and ages in between.

Near the outdoor pool is the basketball and tennis courts. You can bring your own equipment or borrow equipment from the main building.

There are also Corn Hole boards set up next to the tennis court. You can borrow the Corn Hole bags from the main building, but I think next time we will bring our own bags. You can tell their bags have been repaired multiple times because they were different sizes and weights.

Another building you will want to check out is the Rec Hall. If they have any group activities scheduled (like bingo), they are held in this building. They also serve breakfast here in the morning. We did not have breakfast here, but we walked by one morning and it smelled really good. Below the Rec Hall is a sand volleyball court. This is a very popular area because almost every time we walked near this area, it was full of people playing. Beside the Rec Hall is a playground, but we didn't bring either of our playground experts with us on this trip so we didn't do a review of it.

There is also a video game room with lots of video game machines, an air hockey table and a Ping-Pong table. The machines are older and some don't work as well as others, but they are still a lot of fun. I wish they would fix the machines that have issues, but at the same time there are some people that stay at the resort that vandalize the property and ruin the fun for others. If you don't bring enough quarters for your stay or you forget to get quarters before you come, there is a change machine that works well.

There is also a teepee on the property! If it isn't rented, you can check it out. It is huge inside and a lot of fun to check out. I think it would be a lot of fun to have a meeting in the teepee during a family reunion or other type of large group get-together.

There are also horseshoe pits! I really like that they include some spectator seating in this area. We didn't play horseshoes, but it we had, we could have brought our EZ-Up to provide some shade and it wouldn't have been in the way of the roads around it or the campsites nearby. I really like how all of the activity areas are spread out, but are still in a central area. They are in the center of the campground, but some are up near the road and some are in the middle and some are towards the back near the creek. There aren't a lot of people packed into one small area which means a volleyball isn't going to fly through the horseshoe pit or into a swimming pool. There is a possibility of a tennis ball passing through the basketball court, though.

One of the main activities we enjoyed the most was mini golf. Who doesn't enjoy mini golf?! The mini golf equipment is located at the entrance/exit to the course. The holes start out pretty easy and get more difficult as you go. Be sure to bring your water bottles because you may decide to play a couple rounds in a row. The only thing I hated about the course was the vandalism. I hate that some people think it is okay to break and steal stuff and ruin the fun for other people. The last morning we went to play before we left and someone had stolen 2 of the horseshoes out of the horseshoe obstacle.

We will be staying at Cutty's Resort again. I can't wait to take our two little playground experts and our niece who I believe is part fish. They will have a lot of fun and we will have a lot of fun with them. The only complaints I have about Cutty's Resort is the vandalism caused by "guests" and the craziness that happens from about 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Friday evening. There isn't anything the owners and staff can really do about either of those issues though. Thank you Cutty's Resort for a great weekend! We'll see you soon!!

]]>Thu, 30 Jul 2015 02:44:02 GMThttp://www.girlsintheoutdoors.com/reviews/the-last-resort-pagosa-springs-co Hi everybody! Sorry it has been so long since we have done a blog post! It's that time of year when we spend more time outdoors and less time at the computer. For awhile we have been thinking about doing campground reviews and we are finally doing one! We hate staying at a bad campground so we spend a lot of time reading reviews online, researching where we want to stay. I am very happy to say, our first campground review is a very positive review. Here are the details of The Last Resort located in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

The entrance to a campground is very important because it is the first impression. How can you go wrong with a wildlife campfire scene as your first impression? The property is well kept, clean and you can tell the owners take a lot of pride in their business. The office area is also very well kept. I never went into the office and store (which I now really wish I had and must remember to do for future reviews), but my husband and brother did and they said it was nice and neat and even got a map and info book on Pagosa Springs which came in handy later.

TJ, the camp host, met us as soon as we pulled onto the property. We had 2 sites in the center circle area with full hookups. TJ gave us the plan and helped guide both trucks and campers into our spots. Our 2 spots were not next to each other which was a bummer, but that was our fault. It took us awhile to decide on the dates of our trip and then to finally choose the area we wanted to go to, so we were very lucky they had any openings at all 2 weeks before our trip. The campground is more rustic than a RV Resort, but that is the kind of camping we like. There is no cell service, but there is free Wi-Fi that worked pretty good for free Wi-Fi service.

I wish we could have gotten spots along the river because the center area is a little too cramped for me. The good part of the center circle area is that there is a large open area down the middle of the campers. This is the area we hung out in mostly. There is only the one fire pit in this area and we never used it because we didn't want to hog the fire pit in case someone else wanted to use it. Nobody did, so we should have used it at least one night.

Across this bridge were some the river side spots. This area was so nice! There isn't room for bigger rigs to get back here, but they were great sites for tents and smaller campers! These spots are closer to the highway, but they are still pretty quiet.

The Last Resort has some very nice recreation areas. We designated them "Small Playground" and "Big Playground." We'll start with the "Big Playground" because it is near the entrance to the camp ground. There is a lot of room to run, play and even have a picnic at the "Big Playground." The playground equipment is in good shape and everything is safe and according to our 3-Year-Old in charge of Playground Critiques says "the swings go really high and the slide is a lot of fun."

The "Small Playground" Area isn't a small area at all, it just has a small playground. Our 3-Year-Old Playground Expert says this is her favorite but she wouldn't hold still long enough to give me an answer as to why this is her favorite. As adults, we liked this area a lot because we could play horseshoes and the 3-Year-Old could swing, slide, play in the sand box, play in the concrete tube, kick the soccer ball, watch the ducks swim in the pond (with close supervision), run in the grass and just be a crazy 3-year old.

The area also has a pond to watch the ducks (no fishing is allowed in the pond) a net for volleyball or badminton, ladder golf, a large picnic table, a basketball hoop (that is hanging a little crooked right now) and a couple hammocks for relaxing. This area is perfect for large group activities and also for small family fun.

Even though it is called "The Bath House," this building offers a lot more than bathing. Outside, there is a nice large fire pit area, lots of chairs, a barbeque and lots of shade for relaxing. When you first walk in, there is a stove and oven, a sink, cooking utensils to use and a lending library. Further in there are two large clean bathrooms (one for men and one for women) with a sink, toilet and shower in each one. I loved how clean the building and the bathrooms were even though it is a highly used area.

The Blanco River runs through the property and yes, there are fish in the river! It is a nice mountain river that you can fish in, tube down, play in or just sit by and relax. Be careful if you take a walk up or down the river. The rocks are slippery. I know this for a fact and I left my awesome wading staff up in the camper. Luckily, after slipping once, I slipped again and regained my balance. I really wish I had remembered my walking staff, especially after my brother's dog stole my walking stick.

You will probably meet these 2 characters (the ducks, not the humans on the bridge). They are very friendly and the entire weekend they were very interested in my brother. They thought he was going to throw them food instead of Cornhole bags. They also wanted to make friends with my dachshund, but Princess Sasha did not want to make friends with them.

The bridge, the ducks and the pond make a very cute place for some great photos, too.

The hosts are very nice and very helpful. One afternoon our hose that was connected to our camper started spraying water. TJ noticed it and came to let us know and even offered a washer to help fix it. A washer would not have fixed our tiny-itty-bitty hole in the connection piece on the brand new hose, but we really appreciated him offering a washer to help and for letting us know he saw our problem. In a lot of campgrounds you don't see the host on your way out because you don't have to check out with them. TJ made sure he came by and said bye to us before we left which we also really appreciated.

If we are in the Pagosa Springs, Colorado area again, we will definitely be staying at The Last Resort. The only complaints we have were our neighbors were a little too close (not a huge deal since there were lots of other areas to hang out in). The only other complaint I had was, I was cleaning up a lot of dog poop and some of it was not from our dogs. We would get up in the morning and there was new piles that were not from our dogs. I kept cleaning the piles up until the last day. Those are my only 2 complaints about The Last Resort and honestly, those 2 things are very small. The entire property is so clean! I was a little worried about camping so close to the horses, but we never ever smelled anything horse related. The buildings, the playgrounds, the bathrooms, the roads, everything was so nice! Thank you to The Last Resort for having us for the weekend and for having such a great campground!

]]>Sat, 25 Apr 2015 20:56:26 GMThttp://www.girlsintheoutdoors.com/reviews/growing-up-afraid-of-guns I grew up afraid of guns because my mom was very anti-gun. As kids, we weren't allowed to have toy guns, use water guns (we used spray bottles which actually worked to our advantage) or even pretend our fingers were guns. My dad has owned guns since he was a kid and had them in our house while we was growing up, but they were kept in the back of the closet and we were not allowed anywhere near them. I grew up believing those guns were going to go off all by themselves even though they were unloaded. The ammunition was kept in a drawer, sometimes in a different room and I believed the ammunition was going to explode all by itself even though it was just sitting there. Any time we moved, I would get nervous seeing the guns out of their hiding spot and touching them made me dizzy from fear. I believed that the empty rifle would go off at any second and kill me and anybody else near by. My grandpa was a Colorado State Patrolman and I hated seeing him with his gun on his hip because his pistol was loaded all of the time! If an unloaded gun could hurt me just sitting there, Grandpa's loaded gun was definitely going to kill me! When I met my husband and found out he had guns and was a hunter, I knew I was going to set the same rules my mom did. If he was going to have his guns at our house, he was going to keep them unloaded at all times and in the back of the closet where I wouldn't have to see them and I could pretend they weren't in the house, just like my dad's guns. Then, he started explaining how everything in a gun works and how to handle the guns safely and then all of a sudden I was agreeing to try shooting. I discovered I was good at shooting and it was a lot of fun and now have guns of my own!

Shooting My Favorite Pistol

I love shooting my .22 rifle and my .22 pistol. I understand an unloaded gun is not going to explode and a loaded gun just sitting there all by itself untouched isn't going to go off. I feel silly now for being afraid of guns when I was younger and I want to make sure that the kids in my life don't grow up the same way. I want to make sure my nieces and nephew are educated about how guns work and how to handle them safely. I am proud to say they are all pretty good shots, too. I am a little jealous of these 3 kids, because they have several people teaching them about gun safety instead of gun fear.

Ambrosia and Jordan learning how to shoot the .22 rifle.

Cori posing with Uncle Kris' pistol and the bugs she shot.

I grew up afraid of guns and now I look forward to shooting. I have my conceal carry permit and I even sell shooting targets and attend un shows! I'm glad I let my husband explain how guns work and how to use them instead of staying afraid of them. Being afraid of guns was a lot more stressful than learning about them. I am no longer afraid of my dad's guns either and have even shot a couple of them. Learning about guns and owning my own gave me the confidence and motivation to start Girls In The Outdoors. I want to try to prevent other kids from growing up afraid of guns, but in a water fight, I still highly recommend a squirt bottle over a water pistol. Squirt bottles hold WAY more ammo and can be adjusted to make them more accurate.